What I learnt from my time offline.4 mins read

Earlier this year, I decided to take some time ‘offline’.

I didn’t completely go off the grid, what I did was more of a social media detox – I logged out of my Instagram and Twitter accounts (as those are the major social media platforms that I am active on). I also initially deleted my WhatsApp and later re-installed but turned off notifications and moved it off my home-screen to a hidden corner of my phone. So I was reachable majorly via phone calls and text messages. This ‘hiatus’ lasted 10 days.

My goal this period wasn’t to cut me off from the rest of the world but to reduce the amount of ‘noise’ in my personal space. Social media has become a (very) major part of our lives and I feel it’s healthy to cut back on it some times. To be very honest, I didn’t have a goal starting out, I can’t remember what exactly prompted me to do this, one morning I just did – logged out. And I am glad I did.

I couldn’t go completely off the internet because I needed to search surf online occasionally and also needed access to my emails. I will probably try that some other time when I am off work and on vacation somewhere.

This post is a documentation (more like a micro-journal, I started writing it at the beginning of the period and kept adding to it as the days went by) of what I learnt during my time offline, some new lessons while most were old lessons which I needed to remind myself of. The very first lesson is one that I re-learnt in the early days of my time offline and it’s the most important one for me.

• Sometimes the hindrance to your well laid plan is you, just you: It’s not always the amount of time you spend on social media or chatting, sometimes that hindrance is you. You can always find things to fill up your days with, before the advent of social media there were other existing distractions so it’s not inconceivable to be able to find something distracting you from your goals outside of social media. If you lack the discipline to carry out your plans, even if you are locked up away from all distractions, you will still end up doing nothing (or just a little) about those plans. We can always come up with excuses for not meeting up but deep down we know that they are just that – excuses.
• Taking time offline is good medicine: This fact is not surprising. I definitely needed some good medicine and this worked magic. A lot of us (I know I couldn’t at some point) can’t imagine being offline, out of social media (I am referring to those of us who don’t necessarily use it for business purposes). During this period I saw a quote in a mail I received which reinforced my decision to stay off:

‘We usually think of improving our life by adding stuff – like more things, more success, more friends. I think the starting place should be removing stuff – try a month without instagram, a week without looking at fashion pictures. See how that affects your life, your friendships, and your ability to focus on other things.’

– Mark Manson

• Your phone primarily is for YOUR convenience: In a world that is fast-paced – with people interpreting ASAP (as soon as possible) as right now!, a misinterpretation of what it truly means which I believe is ‘as soon as you can’ – it’s so easy to get caught up in that wind and always be on the rush to do things. Instant messaging also gives us that urge to reply messages right now, even if we are busy or too tired and just need some rest. Now, this is not saying that you should ignore people (actually sometimes you should, for your own sanity, at least for a while) or not be proactive; all I’m saying is give yourself a break sometimes. P.S – it’s a bit weird that I’m writing on this because a lot of people have told me about how obsessed I am with my phone. Heck! It’s outright strange that I even DELIBERATELY went offline in the first place. I’m so proud of me!
• Building relationships outside of the internet is important: So building relationships (I’m talking more personal than business) online is not a bad thing, it’s actually a good thing as you are exposed to more people than you will most likely have met in a world without the internet. The reach is amazing and some have even have met life partners on some social media platform. However, it is important to also build relationships off the net, relate with the people around you. So many times, we’re in a physical gathering or at a family dinner and half of the guests are just typing away on their smartphones. We need to curb that and be in tune with our environments and take our people skill a notch higher.
• We think we have all the time of the day until suddenly, the night is upon us: This phrase is a modification of something I saw on a friend’s whatsapp story. I know some of us are really disciplined and know how to limit our time on social media but I can’t say I fall into that category of people. Before now, what sets and helps limit my time on social media was my data balance mostly, nothing else. I’ve heard that there are apps that lock you out of certain apps for a preset period of time but I never really bothered to download any because I just figured I’d override the settings. It’s so easy to stay on social media and forget that life is happening outside, before you know it, another day has gone by without achieving anything significant. I do my best to follow educative accounts online though, so that at least when I’m online, I can say I’m learning something.
• The world will not stop: As I said earlier, I wrote this post in bits throughout my period offline. So this particular fact was one I realized (once again) on going back to social media – the world didn’t stop, it just kept moving on. This didn’t come as a shock to me though, it just hit me again when I opened my social media accounts and saw things being roughly the same as they were before I went off. The world wouldn’t halt for you to take the break that you very well deserve so just take that much needed break anyway. The same goes for taking a vacation or just time away from work. It makes sense to sort out things that you know might need your online presence first before going off, but don’t wait for a ‘perfect time’. I don’t believe there is a particularly perfect time for anything. Take that time/moment/period and make it the perfect one for you.
• The internet/social media is not a terrible thing: This is the last point I’ll like to share. A lot of people deride the internet and social media and go on about how it has affected our social abilities or the cyber-bullying that occurs and a couple of other atrocities. This same internet has made people around the world more connected than ever before, bringing several opportunities our way. . The internet is a great invention but like all things, should be done in moderation.

P. S: As of the time of finishing this write-up, I was back online already. However, I had a bit of anxiety going back online, like I wanted to be online but offline at the same time. I was basically observing and not posting stuff which is completely unlike me. I figured I felt that way because I had some things I set out to do in my period offline which I didn’t get to complete. I eventually got over it though and I’m fully back online now. This bit of information shouldn’t scare you from taking that step to stay off though. I believe we are all different and react differently to things.

Have you ever deliberately taken time offline? If you have, how did it make you feel? What did you learn? How did it feel coming back online?

If you haven’t, do you plan on giving it a shot?

Do let me know in the comment section.